Tornado-Damaged Oklahoma Town Holds High School Graduation Ceremonies

Southmoore High School senior Jake Spradling, hugs a classmate as they get ready to attend their commencement ceremony in Oklahoma City Saturday, May 25, 2013, five days after a tornado destroyed a large swath of their attendance area in Moore, Okla.

Graduation ceremonies were held today for students from three high schools in an Oklahoma community ravaged by a monstrous tornado, marking a bittersweet end to a week that brought fatalities and unfathomable destruction.

Three highs schools in the Moore Public Schools system -- Westmoore, Southmoore and Moore high schools -- held back-to-back ceremonies today at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

The graduation ceremonies came in the midst of the first of the private funerals being held for the 24 people, including seven children at Plaza Towers Elementary School, who were killed in Monday's tornado.

"What was started off as a normal day at Plaza Towers turned into horrible, horrible thing for seven families," principal Amy Simpson said on Friday, as she recalled the massive twister that decimated the school.

"So many of us survived that day, because the teachers were able to act quickly, stay calm and take literally the weight of a wall," she said.

For Becky Flood, who lives one block from the school, the young lives lost were the most heartwrenching effect of the tornado.

"The hard part is having friends that've lost their kids," she said. "I know what it is to lose a child. I lost a daughter three years ago."

Emergency calls from the harrowing moments during the twister were released on Friday, capturing the terror felt by residents as they sought shelter.

"A tornado just hit us we're trapped in a closet ... we can't get out," a caller said.

"Are you injured?" the dispatcher asked.

"No, we just can't breathe," the caller replied.

Amid the loss and destruction, one woman received a glimmer of hope just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, when a group of volunteers found and returned her father's American flag, which had been saved from his time serving in the Korean War.

On Sunday, President Obama is scheduled to visit the devastated community to meet with victims and first responders. A public memorial service is also scheduled for Sunday evening at the First Baptist Church in Moore, Okla.

Gov. Mary Fallin's office said 4,500 seats were available to the public on a first come, first served basis at the church, but the response is expected to be so overwhelming that overflow seating is being made available at Westmoore High School.